Golden to take Crook County post

Jim Golden, the popular assistant principal of Sisters High School, will become the principal of Crook County High School in Prineville at the end of the current school year.

Golden, 44, beat out 16 other applicants for the Crook County job. He was the consensus choice of a search committee of 14 teachers, administrators and lay people and the clear first choice of Crook County Superintendent Steve Swisher, a former Sisters superintendent ,who ultimately offered him the job. He will be paid $89,600.

In a conversation with The Nugget, Golden expressed both pleasure at taking a step up the professional ladder and relief at being able to concentrate on one job.

“I’ve been doing two jobs here,” he explained. “This will be a good chance for me to be more focused.”

He referred to the fact that two years ago, when he was Sisters’ director of special education, he was appointed assistant principal to fill a spot vacated by Bob Macauley. Macauley had been named principal to replace Boyd Keyser, who resigned to take a principalship in his native Washington state.

Just as Macauley kept on serving as head football coach, Golden continued running the special ed program while also working as assistant principal.

Crook County High has about 1,000 students compared with 590 (counting alternative programs) at Sisters. The eastern district has seven schools in total compared with three in Sisters.

The high school vacancy occurred in January when former principal Rick Knode, who had served for less than two years, resigned in the midst of a district investigation into staff complaints that have never been publicly described.

“They’ve had four principals in six years,” Golden said, counting the current interim principal. “I hope I can help stabilize the situation.” In an e-mail to all district staff members, Swisher said Golden had made a commitment to stay with the district for at least six years. He also intends to move his family — wife Rebecca and sons Bret, 13, and Andreas, 10 — to Prineville.

Golden and Swisher both came to Sisters nine years ago, Golden to take over special education and Swisher to become superintendent.

Swisher said in his e-mail that he purposely devised a broad-based search to avoid any appearance of bias on his part.

He said in the end he was “confident that, had I not been involved in this process, Jim Golden would have still clearly surfaced as the leading candidate.”